Support thread from Arts & Crafts for the blankets

[tribpot]

We've been talking quite a lot on the main thread about getting the stitches right for a particular square with a lovely heart design in it. You need to be registered on Ravelry to see it here or with the designer's website (also free) to see it here.

The race is on to see whether any of us can complete it without going completely insane at the difficulty of some of the patterns, so we are having a (supportive) 'heart-off' this weekend to try and get it done without flooding the main thread with messages about it.

On the cast list so far are: GleamingHeels, MinnieBar and me, but all are welcome - beware though, you have to supply your own valium.

I've just recharted it to get it down to a size that will knit out to (about) 6", so have chopped out 4 rows of border from the bottom, 2 stitches of border from the sides and 2 stitches of the plain bit between the outer and inner border. So I'm starting with 29 stitches. I'd prob prefer to have 3 rows of border and 3 side stitches of border too, but as the square is going to be put into a larger blanket (unless rejected by our Blanket Mistresses Pistey and Knotty) I thought a slightly scrappy border would probably be okay.

Glaikit I would slip them as if to purl, I prefer it that way. Maybe give it a whirl both ways and see which you prefer? I intended to do that one myself before I got distracted by elephants.

Back to my slightly duffed up square, I'm thinking about putting a wee heart over the gap, as I fully intended of course!

Glaikit I think the slip 'as if to purl' is the right way - it makes a more defined wavey pattern on the right side - everything else you've described doing sounds right - good luck! Do let us know how it goes

Excellent - trib agrees with me Glaikit - I have just knitted a few rows of each and am convinced that the 'as if to purl' is the best

Right will give it a go. wish me luck!!

Good luck Glaikit good luck

come and tell us how it goes and let us see pictures if you can

Trib wee heart - excellent idea - though with less Who do You Think You Are potential - maybe more appropriate for this particular blanket...

I am partly responsible for starting a quiche??! And a knitting quiche at that! Brilliant.

Heart square finally finished but I'm on my phone so pictures will have to wait until tomorrow - on with a nice and simple teddy square tonight.

WoollyWonderBirds are Go!

towards wine

Hi..... knot... ...errr.. Bye.. lovely pom bears poms

wine sounds good what are WoollyWonderbirds and where are they going saw this on proper MrsKwazii thread too [shakes head at self and general MN ignorance]

You loverly lot! The wonderful posse of Blanketeers

WoollyWonderBirds, the lot of you

gets pompoms out from under stuff

Go Knotty! Go Blanketeers! Go WoolyWonderBirds!

tries enthusiastic actions including shaking and kicking

Go get me some frozen peas! and another glass of wine

Minnie - can't wait to see the heart square - you did start Team Heart - it wouldn't have happened without you - do you think we can be a quiche? I'm trying to count how many of us there are -
Minnie
Trib
me
ChipDonkey (that's two people - including TeapotMonkey)
Barbara

obvoiusly Knotty and Pistey are honorary members hope I haven't missed anyone

I think we're a little bit small so far. We have achieved Great Things in the battle against the hard Doom Laden rows in the heart pattern and are now moving on through the 'why does the two colour knitting get all bunched up' and 'should we slip stitches purl-wise or not' dilemmas.

If this is to be a quiche, it's a teeny tiny one at the moment so plenty of room for anyone else

Ahem! Do you have to try the heart pattern to become a member?

Chinese wave is coming along nicely!!

Perhaps we're just a mini-quiche, like in Bridget Jones's diary.

I'd also say anyone with any interest in knitting is welcome! I really have the bug now and want to learn more, and crocheting too?

Hi Woolly Quichettes.

at GlaikitFizzog (See what I did there! )

Reporting back from Row 21 of the Original Heart Pattern. Well I survived Lower Border of Doom. I think I would have completely given up at the purling through the back leg part if Trib's pictures hadn't confirmed that I was on the right track with stupid WTF is this for lengths of yarn stretching across my needle.

I have to say that the Yawning Chasms are indeed a bit yawny. Think I'll be tackling the Mumsnet Modified Heart Pattern next - as soon as I can get my head around the extra row in the improved pattern.

So proud to be an honorary woolly quiche member!

I think anyone who has sent good vibes for the Heart Patterneers can definitely be a member of Team Heart, so it's all good.

This is my first attempt to write down the pattern I did (or actually didn't quite do) for the smaller square with the less Chasm-ish borders. You'll note I have left the two stitches I got wrong in red. The other colours show border vs. main bit, heart vs. background, and right sides vs wrong side. Because of the removal of rows, the Lower Border of Hopefully Less Doom starts on row 7

Does this way of writing the pattern actually make sense? Although I read the pattern right to left for the right side rows and left to right for the wrong side, there was no actual need to do this. As long as all the right side rows are read in the same direction the pattern will work; all the wrong side rows are symmetrical in any case. Note this is also the version with fewer rows and columns to cope with my ludicrously sloppy knitting. I will extrapolate the pattern back to the 37 rows of the original if this version even makes sense :)

Trib I want to be you when I grow up!

In the knitting sense I mean - my aim is to get to the stage where I could create my own pattern on a grid and then be able to translate it into written-down instructions. One day?

Why thank you Minnie (I think). Of course, I didn't really make this pattern, I just wrote the existing instructions down in Excel and then messed about with them a bit.

I'm sure there's software that will then turn the grid pattern into written instructions, although identifying repeating patterns of characters could be interesting

I'm assuming in the dream you didn't get the Yawning Chasm of Doom on your tattoo!

Ooh, am I in a quiche? TeapotMonkey made me laugh

Prefers to overlook the fact that I wussed out of the heart square after two rows

Completion of the heart square is definitely not a requirement for being a Woolly Quichette (nice work there Barbara ) as far as I am concerned everyone's welcome and Minnie, a membership tattoo is also not required - not even dream ones!

Glaikit I am sorry to have missed you out of the original list, of course you're one of us - I did get the 'slp stitches purl-wise' bit in though

trib your pattern is a thing of beauty and is almost exactly how I produce a chart in Excel so is mega easy for me to read - thankyou for all that work - I'll knit one in that hot pink wool later today, just for the hell of it!

Yes it was meant as a compliment, honest!

I was going to get (in my dream) not one but three hearts to represent my three DCs

(Apologies to anyone with heart tattoos; they're just not for me!)

Just whilst I'm doing some charts, this is the elephant one - of course, here you could add a few more rows/columns into the border to make it wider if you wanted to, but hope this might prove useful!

I wonder if I should ask for this thread to be moved into Arts and Crafts, as hopefully we can continue to use it for a while?

I was going to suggest getting it moved too, Trib. Lots of lovely links and patterns that I'd hate to lose. Plus think of any Mumsnetters in the future struggling wildly though the Yawning Chasms of the Lower Border of Doom with no help in sight

Indeed Barbara, will no-one think of the back legs of the future knitters?! I have reported my post and hope this doesn't mean I end up being ejected from MN in a miscarriage of justice.